Camille Monfort

(1869 - 1896)

She was young, beautiful and enchanted audiences with her voice. She was called “The Amazonian Vampire” because of her pale features and late-night walks. Rich gentlemen desired her and their wives were atrociously jealous of her beauty.

She was Camille Monfort.

Camille was born in 1869, in France, and her father was Henri montfort and her mother was Marie Monfort. Her father, Henri, was a French diplomat and the consulate-general of France in Belem, the capital state of Para in Brazil. Her mother, Marie, was a French Aristocrat who was related to the Royal family of Orleans. It’s safe to say that Camille enjoyed a privileged upbringing.

In 1876, the family moved to Brazil. Camille’s two older brothers, Louis and Charles, followed their father into a diplomatic career. The family were Roman Catholic. Not much is recorded about her education, but with this kind of lifestyle, Camille was sure to have a governess, learning about the Brazilian culture and its history.

Camille never married, which is a surprise as she was very beautiful, standing at 5 feet 5 inches tall and having a ‘decent’ waist. Many admired her free spirit and her ‘independent’ aura. However, despite all of this, Camille lived a short life, interesting but short. Camille lived by her own rules.

She had a ‘notorious’ love life, having affairs with married men, including barons, politicians, journalists and diplomats. No doubt, with her father being the consulate-general of France, Camille’s world was opened up to meet many people, men and women.

Camille preferred her life in the theatre, being an outstanding opera singer, attracting large audiences with her performances. This profession gave her freedom to have her own luxurious lifestyle, although her financial net worth is not recorded.

As very little is actually “known” about Camille, her life has been ‘open’ to much speculation and mystery. She has become a subject of fascination and curiosity. The ‘tales’ that have emerged over the years make us believe that Camille was a unique and interesting person.

It was ‘believed’ (for example) that this powerful opera singer had the habit of indulging in champagne baths. People believed that Camille would dance through the streets under the afternoon rain. These stories got out of hand, however, because people started to ‘believe’ that this young woman was a vampire, and that Camille would hypnotize her unsuspecting victims with her mesmerizing voice. Her pale complexion only encouraged these wild rumours, which were possibly spread by the jealous wives of the husbands she was said to have had affairs with.

It is true that people would faint during her performances but instead of her hypnotizing the person, it was probably because of the strong emotions that her singing would evoke in the audience.

‘People’ believed that Camille could communicate with the dead, and materialize their spirits in dense ethereal mists of ectoplasmic matter, which the young woman would expel from her body during a mediumistic session. Undoubtedly, this was the start of the Spiritualist movement in Brazil, which was practiced in the palaces of Belem by mysterious cults.

Whatever the truth is, there was an outbreak of cholera by the end of 1896, which swept through the city of Belem, and it took Camille’s young life. Camille was only 25 years of age when she died and she was laid in the Cemetery of Solitude in Batz-sur-Mer, France.

During her young life, Camille was not only a very talented opera singer who studied classical music at the Conservatoire de Paris, but she could also speak Italian, German, English and Portuguese. She learnt to play the piano, violin and the guitar. When she was performing, Camille travelled Europe and performed in several theatres and salons. Her talent and beauty became legendary for the time in which she lived. She had an independent and rebellious spirit, dressing in the most fashionable clothes of the time, some of the dresses were thought to be quite provocative. Camille would smoke, ride horses and drive the newly invented motor car. Her lovers showered her with gifts but Camille never settled down with any one of them.

Camille Monfort’s ‘legend’ has inspired many works of art and literature, novels, poems, as well as songs, paintings and even the odd film or two. Even today, Camille is remembered and revered by people who visit her grave to mark their ‘respect’ for “The Amazonian Vampire”.